Week 7 – Healthcare Reform

Week 7 – Healthcare Reform According to Nies & McEwen (2015), nurses can have a significant impact of the quality of life the community experiences. One way that I have been able to impact this it through the Political Action Committee at my company. We advocate for critical issues that are important to our community. ON of the issues that we are addressing is that of vaccinations. Per CDC (2019), 127 measles cases have now been confirmed in 10 of the United States in 2019. This includes 8 cases in Texas. Texas Tribune, (2019) reports 25 states with measles outbreaks in 2018. The CDC has contributed this to lack of vaccinations. In 2018, Texas Tribune, (2019) reports that 56,738 children in the state of Texas were not vaccinated. There are bills in place now that are proposing that vaccinations and immunizations become mandatory. As healthcare professional, this can have a profound impact on my community-based practice. It proposes many ethical issues. According to Hendrix, Sturm, Zimet & Meslin (2016), such as mandating vaccines, not allowing un—vaccinated children to attend school, who can be excluded and reasons for exclusion plus the exclusion process, allowing or dis-allowing un-vaccinated people into private practices, etc..are just a few of the ethical issues we face. For me, it really hits home in the adult population that I treat. Many of them are immune-compromised and having this new generation of un-vaccinated population can be life-threatening. I understand that people have the freedom to choose however, I have mixed emotions when parents are making these decisions for their children that affect the entire population. As a community health nurse, it is my responsibility to provide education to parents and adults regarding immunization. Our local county health department provides information pamphlets on informed decision-making regarding vaccinations. These are free to anyone who chooses to take them. They are great to hand out in the community and especially to family members that are on the fence about immunizations. One online resource that I discovered was ProC. They have a nice side b side comparison on vaccination pros and cons. I am able to effect change by writing to my state senator and advocating through our Political Action Committee at my place of employment. Alone, my voice is very weak but as nurse professionals if we stand and speak together, we can make a profound impact on legislation. In closing, I had the opportunity to meet with our Texas senator and assist him with reviewing upcoming health care bills. It was definitely a pleasure to think that I might have had a tiny impact on healthcare as a whole. Hendrix, K. S., Sturm, L. A., Zimet, G. D., & Meslin, E. M. (2016). Ethics and Childhood Vaccination Policy in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 106(2), 273–278. Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2015). Community/Public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier.